Associate Professor Marilyn Minus

Associate Professor, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston

Dr. Marilyn Minus is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at Northeastern University in Boston, MA, USA. She is also the director of the Macromolecular Innovation in Nano-materials Utilizing Systems Laboratory otherwise known as the MINUS-lab. She received her BS and PhD from the Georgia Institute of Technology in the area of Polymer, Textile, and Fiber Engineering.

Dr. Minus' research is focused on addressing sustainability issues with the goal of producing energy efficient lightweight materials. Another focus of her research is toward understanding natural hierarchical systems in order to design and fabricate structural materials. These materials are based on bio-polymer and high-polymer nanocomposites. The fundamental aim for Dr. Minus’ research is to understand phenomena associated with polymer/nano-filler structural development in the composites during processing procedures. This research work expands the scientific and technological base for understanding the manipulation of nano-scale matter during composite fabrication as it pertains to building mechanically superior materials. Her research interests also include structure-property relationships in polymer-based nano-composites, control of interfacial morphology and molecular interactions between the polymer and carbon nano-materials, as well as control of interphase structures and morphology in polymer-based hybrid materials. Both the technical and education research work in the MINUS lab has been supported by ~$9M in funding to date from agencies including NSF, AFOSR, ARO, and DARPA.

Professor Minus has published more than 30 scientific publications and presented over 25 conference papers in the area of polymer-based nano-composites. She is also the recipient of the NSF CAREER award. She is currently a member of American Chemical Society (ACS), Materials Research Society (MRS), and Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE), and the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE).